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Julia Margaret Cameron's poetic portraits

Julia Margaret Cameron was 48 years old when she received her first camera in 1863, but she was soon comfortable behind the lens. With a style that included elements of fantasy and romance, Cameron became one of the most enduring portrait photographers in history.

Friends with many of the noted artists, poets and thinkers of her time, Cameron often featured members of Victorian creative society in her portraits, including this image of Alice Liddell, taken in 1872. Liddell is famous for inspiring the main character in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland."

An exhibition of 35 of Cameron's masterpieces will open August 19, 2013 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Visit the museum's website for more information.

Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Parting of Lancelot and Guinevere, 1874

Cameron used carefully directed light, soft focus, and long exposures to create portraits with a greater sense of movement and life.

Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Philip Stanhope Worsley, 1866

Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

After Perugino. The Annunciation, 1865

Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kate Keown, 1866

Credit: Julia Margaret Cameron/The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Alfred, Lord Tennyson, July 4, 1866

It took three years of pleading before Cameron convinced Tennyson, a close friend and neighbor, to sit for his portrait.